Miller and Salmon's are in for the full season.  they were arguable our best players on a consistent basis last year.  We started the season last year with a bunch of malcontent's/non team players and we had inconsistent starting lineups for a large part of the season before they got here.

Deng was out for a large part of the season.  when he played healthy, he brought points and team defense.  He is stronger and (hopefully) healthier coming into this season.  In that second round playoff against miami a couple of years ago, he was not a star in either scoring or defending, but he was great as a team defender and off ball scorer.

Hinrich was injured for a portion of last season as well.  If he can stay healthy, and with a new defined role as the 6th man coming into the game, I think that he can play at a higher level against the other teams bench players.  I also think that he feels more comfortable in a support role.

Tyrus Thomas put in (a second) off season of serious work in becoming a basketball player.  From when I saw him playing his first season where he jumped as high as he could to dunk, to the second season, where he rushed his dunks because of his fear of getting stuffed,  he looked in this preseason to finally start to balance his timing to be most effective at finishing at the rim.   Watching Taj's footwork and shooting form as well as his shot selection, I see the gap in Tyrus' game, but he does look better.  In his first 2 seasons, he didn't look to have made much of a jump.  Last year he showed a marked improvement (finally).  This summer he worked on his outside shot and getting stronger.  Even if he doesn't become a star this year, I see him playing at a higher level then he has ever played before.

NOAH KIM JOAH went from a flop to a hustle player at the end of last year.  he has speed, length and after this off season some muscle.  Throw in some new (no fear) post moves that he showed in the preseason and he looks to be in for a much better complete season as well.

Derrick Rose is coming into his second season after a stellar rookie season that went beyond our expectations.  he showed his weaknesses as well,  bad defense, too many turnovers and not a great assist man ala Chris Paul.  But he did get that vaunted playoff experience that we spoke so much about last year.  And man was that some playoff experience.   He will be better this season as well.  He spoke about this off season working on his dribbling skills and working on communicating with his teammates better.

LESS IS MORE:  Nocioni is an undersized power forward whose best work belongs to a league slow in responding to the new hand check rules (and still keeping a lot of slow big power forwards) and right before the no flopping rules came into affect.   He is too nonathletic to keep up with small forwards and too short to defend against bigger faster power forwards.  He played waaaaaaay too many minutes last season on this team. 

Pargo fits better on this team in limited minutes then Duhon.  How can we forget that drama.

Ben Gordon, after his first season became something akin to a crack addiction.  He was totally manhandled in that first round playoff games against a bigger stronger Detroit team a few years back.  We became dependent on his outside shooting to win games throughout his time here.  I love his passion, but a team will never win a championship depending on his 3 on 1 shooting game.  He can't dribble and he can't take it to the hole (and he can't pass).  What team has ever won with that as your first option?  add to that his limited defensive skills against bigger/stronger guards and his non team offensive flow and his pluses become less effective.  Then you factor in his demand on a maximum contract effecting your team development options and he is NOT a good option for this team.

In Defense of pax:  He turned a maximum contract for tyson freakin chandler into a gamble for ben wallace, once that experiment failed, he converted that albatross contract into clown a and b from cleveland, then somehow managed to convince sacramento to take another of his mistaken contracts in nocioni along with clown a for two of our current best players in miller and fish.  throw in his dealings with new york for Curry "there is nothing i won't eat" to obtain his current starting forwards in Tyrus and Noah and cap flexibility next year and he has a very good body of work.

Prediction for this year: Yes Boston, Cleavland and Orlando appear to have upgraded their teams.  But we do not just play them throughout the season exclusively.  we will be playing a lot of teams that have not upgraded/lost good players against a bulls team that is better then what we had at the beginning of last year.  We are better prepared for the playoffs and with this team we should be looking at better position in the playoffs.

45 - 49 wins

4th spot in the playoffs

2nd round playoff loss

g

Derrick Rose, PG, Bulls

Rose is third in PER (15.92) among rookies who have played 30-plus minutes a game, first among non-centers. Among rookies, he is second in scoring, first in assists and first in assists per turnovers. And perhaps the most important stat of all is that the Bulls are back in the playoffs and have been one of the hottest teams in the NBA since the All-Star break. (Sometimes this has less meaning for rookies who play small roles and rarely play big minutes. But with Rose, it takes on more meaning because his role has been huge in Chicago. As have his minutes.)

But the case for Rose is more impressive once you get past the easy stats above. From Day 1, the Bulls have operated around a system that best allows Rose to play to his strengths: attacking the rim and finishing. His dribble-drive game is deadly and his strength allows him to finish shots even when he hasn't totally beaten his defender. He gets to the rim for 39 percent of his shots, which is a strong number, and he finishes 56 percent of them, which is even stronger.

Early on, teams allowed him to drive and did not devote much energy into helping onto him. So he flourished as a scorer, averaging 18.9 ppg on 50 percent shooting from the field in November. Then teams started helping more, forcing him to pass and think more. It worked to some extent, as Rose saw his scoring drop by over two points per game, while the Bulls had a losing month in every month until March.

But during that time, he learned to make easy passes out to teammates if opponents reacted quickly to his drives. And, when forced to be a scorer, he became more efficient at getting baskets, especially in his midrange game. So when the Bulls added more perimeter threats at the trade deadline, their offense took off because of his lessons learned.

One of Rose's best traits is his willingness to be a role player when necessary, allowing his teammates to take the bulk of the shots when the matchups dictate that. He has a maturity that is beyond his age and experience. His selflessness, though, is matched by his soaring confidence that he can take over at any time. And, in those times, he has earned his teammates' trust because they know he's trying to make the right play for the team. They'd be OK seeing him score just 9 points on 7 shots (with 7 assists and 5 boards) in a win just as they would be if he went for 23 points on 25 shots in a loss.

Those attributes are even more powerful than his stats, and they are what will make him an All-Star in the years to come, a key member for future versions of Team USA and a postseason star for the resurgent Bulls going forward.

The pick

By helping the Bulls return to the playoffs, Rose gets the nod for rookie of the year. Beating out Lopez and this outstanding class is noteworthy, and it's just the beginning for this special talent.

I don't know if this has been talked about yet, but has anyone noticed the new tyrus roll to the basket bounce pass and dunk?

If you are as painfully aware of how slow his offensive skills have developed as I am, you might appreciate this new skill.  He literaly trusts his man to bounce pass the ball to him midway to the basket and is READY to pick up the ball in mid bounce and finish with a dunk.

this doesn't sound like big news for a professional NBA player but, again to witness some growth is just wonderfull to see.  kinda like a new dad watching his child pronounce a new word for the first time. 

Tyrus now has FOUR offensive skills that I can count on: 

1.  the put back attempt on the missed shot.

2.  the lob pass for a dunk

3. (suprisingly) the (wide open uncontested) 17 foot shot

and

4. the give up the ball, block the defender then drive straight to the basket and pick up the bounce pass for a dunk score that I saw tonight on a couple of drives.

is he really learning how to play both sides of the court or am I just dreaming?

hinrich for marcus camby .

I think this would really work for the bulls with noah backing him up.

Rose / Thabo
? / Gordon( another trade including Huges) / Thabo
deng / noc (or najera for aaron “fatboy” gray)
Gooden / Tyrus
Camby / Noah

were really set in 3.5 spots with this scenario. Specially if what i read earlier today about Tyrus looking really good at the IMG training facility out in Florida this week.

Camby is a very good player and having Noah backing him up would be an instant upgrade in talent, experience and depth at the 5.

Paxon has some good trades under his belt. (curry for tyrus , noah, contract$$$... tyson for Dead Walace… Gooden). oh and Gordon / Deng / Noc that got us back into the playoffs right away.

and he’s never had this much leverage to work with (1st pick… Hinrich… Gordon…. Deng….Gooden…. all proven players)